Essar Power has decided to surrender the Tokisud North coal block in Jharkhand. The company has already invested Rs 490 crore in the project. The move which comes in the backdrop of facing delays in key approvals and sudden change in tariff terms, will cripple the company's 1,200-MW Mahan plant in Madhya Pradesh.

Essar Power MP Ltd. hasy stabilised operations in Unit II of its 2x600 MW Mahan power plant. The company has secured coal through a Government-conducted e-auction for the plant. Essar Power Ltd built the plant, which is located in Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district, at a cost of more than Rs 8,000 crore. It requires approximately 5.5 million tonnes of domestic coal per year to generate full load.

India has become a power surplus nation, albeit with certain caveats. In its wake, it has changed the whole paradigm of generation sources, with solar and wind hogging the spotlight and coal being relegated a bit.

Essar Power Limited has delivered a strong operational performance in FY2016-17. While it generated 49 per cent more power in the fiscal, the company also added 165 MW capacity to its portfolio by commissioning one unit each at its Paradip and Hazira plants. The generation increased by 57 per cent year-on-year in the quarter ending March 31st, 2017.

Essar Power's Tori project in Jharkhand is stuck for lack of coal, despite a spurt in the fuel's supplies in the country. 'The 1,200 Mw project is almost 50 per cent complete. It would have been completed by now but financial institutions have stopped disbursement of funds, said KVB Reddy, chief executive officer, Essar Power.